Link to home
Start Free TrialLog in
Avatar of Member_2_7970041
Member_2_7970041

asked on

Clonezilla doesn't restore from image

Hello!

I have Ubuntu 14.04 with recently installed kernel 4.4
A few month ago I did a backup image with Clonezilla. I have a dual-boot system (Linux/W10). My laptop is connected to USB HD. Ubuntu is on the external USB3 drive. Windows is inside the laptop and on another partition inside the laptop, which is formatted into ext4 there's a Clonezilla image (well, it's the directory and the image is inside of it). So I want to use the image that resides on the internal HD to recreated the whole disk that is external. What happens after I boot into Clonezilla is that I get to the destination screen and then I must choose the source. No restore option, just a saving option and in the end I see my Ubuntu USB3 HD (as a source). I don't how to explain to Clonezilla that I want to restore from image. Unfortunately, there's no way to bluntly choose that option from the start. Clonezilla itself gives you the options it considers correct.
Avatar of rindi
rindi
Flag of Switzerland image

From the way you describe the problem, you are trying to restore to the same disk you have booted and are running CloneZilla from. You can't do that. You need to boot CloneZilla from something else. For example use a LiveDVD or CD which includes CloneZilla to boot from.
What you could try is to boot from a live linux CD and copy the clonezilla image from the internal drive to (another) USB device. Then boot from the CloneZilla CD, having both USB devices attached, one containing the image, the other where you want to restore to.

Why did you create a 2nd ext4 partition on the internal drive anyway?

How do you boot Linux from the external USB device?
Avatar of Member_2_7970041
Member_2_7970041

ASKER

rindi,
You didn't understand me. My Clonezilla is on a bootable DVD and I booted from it and was about to restore to an external USB3 HD.
Some update though... The Ubuntu installation on my external HDD is alive again, all of a sudden. The disk is like 7 yo. Yesterday I heard a metal kinda bang in it when I turned my PC on.
I don't know if it's a co-incidence, but a few days ago there was a kernel upgrade from 3.16 to 4.4
And yesterday I could boot my system. A few times it dropped to BusyBox and I thought that the HDD was dead. That's why I wanted to restore 3.16 backup (from before the kernel upgrade) to external HDD, so I booted from Clonezilla HDD, but it didn't even let me do a restore.
So that's the full story.
Gerwin Jansen,
You meant that I could copy Clonezilla image files to, say, a USB stick and then after booting from Clonezilla DVD while having both USB stick and external USB HDD attached to the computer to try to do a restore? It's possible, I guess.
I created an ext4 partition on an internal HDD, 'cos it's a Windows disk with NTFS on it and I kinda didn't want to backup from Linux to NTFS, that's why. Though it might not make any difference at all. But it's not a 2nd ext4 partition on an internal drive, it's the only one. All other ext4 partitions are only on an external HDD (where Ubuntu lives).

Very simple, I have a dual boot and GRUB2 menu with OS choices. One for W10 and another one for Ubuntu.
A few months ago I succeded to do the restoration with Clonezilla (with kernel 3.6.). I just don't remember what exactly I was doing and what choices Clonezilla gave me back then.
Let me ask you a general Clonezilla question though. When you want to restore... How does Clonezilla knows that that's what you want and not the backup again?
rindi,
CORRECTION!!!

What I meant to say was that yesterday I could NOT boot my system (had forgotten to add "not" and later when I saw my error it was too late to correct it above)
Maybe I had to choose the DIRECTORY where Clonezilla image files are in?
I just chose a ext4 partition where they are. And then I think I chose top directory. Maybe I had to specify the Clonezilla directory in which there are all its files? So I would see restoration options on the next Clonezilla screen. Please explain that to me. Like first I choose the partition in which I have a backup files, then on the next screen I see a few options to choose a DIRECTORY. Default option is "Top directory" and in my particular case, I have a partition and in it I have a folder and in that folder I have a bunch of Clonezilla backup files.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
Avatar of rindi
rindi
Flag of Switzerland image

Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
Yes, you need to choose which image you want to restore. More than one image can be stored.
Why not, I constantly update my system, just not the kernel.
Ok, maybe I'll try again and see what happens.
It was a wrong assumption. Clonezilla doesn't show its own directory (actually, it says that its own folder is excluded). But... and it's a small miracle, this time I got a restoration option and I did the restoration process till its successful end. I chose the default "Top directory" option after choosing the partition on which the Clonezilla backup directory was.
The only difference that this time was from when it did no work was that this time I was restoring a backup of Ubuntu with a new kernel (4.4.) and before that with the old one (3.16)
You meant that I could copy Clonezilla image files to, say, a USB stick and then after booting from Clonezilla DVD while having both USB stick and external USB HDD attached to the computer to try to do a restore?
Yes that is what I mean, I always have external media for storing images, never internal drives, for obvious reasons ;)